Summary: Addressing the reasons for suffering and how we, as Christians should approach our hard moments so that we can grow from them.

A year ago yesterday, I was at the GT v. UGA football game watching my team get slaughtered. My girlfriend at the time, Rebecca, who also happened to be a UGA student, was there with me as well as two of her UGA friends … needless to say, it wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had at a Tech football game. On top of the terrible defeat, I felt sort of bad because I had chosen to go to the game over spending another day with my family from out of town; but really, I see them every year and they were big college football fans, so I knew they’d understood. Anyway, as I left the game and was walking back to the Marta station with Rebecca and her friends I decided to check my phone and see if anyone had called during the game, as I couldn’t hear anything while I was in the stadium. Sure enough I had four missed calls … two from my house, one from my sister’s cell phone, and one from my mom’s cell phone; “Something must have happened” was the thought that ran through my mind.

Rebecca held back with me while her friends walked ahead and I hesitantly put the phone to my ear to listen to the messages. The voice of my father revealed the terrible news that my aunt, uncle and cousin Erin had been in a bad car wreck on the way back to Alabama and my family was going to hospital to be with them. Josh and Amy, the other two siblings in the family were on the way also. I had no news on their conditions, but I called my dad back and he told me to go home and call him when I got there … still, there was no indication of anything.

Rebecca’s friends went north on Marta and she and I went south. But the southbound train got stuck, delaying things even more. Eventually, my mother called to see if I was home yet. Her voice was shaky and I could tell that she had been crying. I asked what had happened and she sort of whimpered, “just go home and be with Suzanne and call us from there.” At that moment, I knew that at least one of them had not made it. As the train began to move again I wrapped my arms around Rebecca’s leg from my seat and wept. I couldn’t control it … someone I loved very much, and I didn’t even know who, had been taken from this world and from my life!

I took Rebecca home and called my mom on the way back to my house and finally got her to tell me everything. As it turned out, both my aunt Nita and cousin Erin had been killed, leaving uncle Jimmy without a wife and youngest daughter, Josh and Amy without a mother and little sister, and everyone with questions. Why? Why us? Shouldn’t their lives have had more?

If any of you have lost someone that you loved, then you know, it hurts.

I lost two family members because some lady didn’t see a stop sign. Little children die every day in Africa because it doesn’t rain enough. It seems like God could stop that if He wanted to, doesn’t it?

Well, that is one of the biggest objections to Christianity out there. How can a truly loving God with infinite power allow evil and suffering? Why do “good people” die young and why don’t only the “bad people” suffer? Well this morning I am going to do my best to offer and explanation for the existence of evil in a world that is supposed to be watched over by an all powerful, loving God.